Hello everyone,
I've just gotten into wine making. I'm in the middle of making my first batch of a strawberry wine recipe that I got off of the net (middle of my secondary fermentation). In this recipe, it calls to primary ferment for about 7 days, then siphon into a secondary with airlock to ferment for 4-6 weeks, then rack
one more time into a clean secondary container re-attach the air lock and
allow to stand until the wine is completely clear (about 1-2 weeks). Then sweeten if wanted and bottle.
My questions are:
1) For sweetening, the recipe mentions that anytime you add sugar to a finished wine you must then either add a stabilizer such as Potassium Sorbate or filter with a pressurized type filter system using “sterile” filter pads. I've also read here and other places to add sulfites. Which should I do?
2) I've also read about adding Campden tablets during each racking (or every other racking). This recipe does not mention anything about this. I added sodium metabisulfite in the beginning (initial 24hrs of pulp before adding yeast) as per the recipe. So, do I need to add these tablets (or sodium metabisulfite since that's what I have and I believe sod. meta is in Campden) when I rack after secondary fermentation is done?
3) During the secondary fermentation, is it ok to once in a while remove the airlock to grab a sample (to check SG or to taste - every time I go in the basement and see it there, I want to taste it even though it's only been a week in the secondary)? Or would I just be asking for trouble (oxidation, etc)?
Thanks for your help,
ap_winer
PS. this forum is great! A lot of helpfull info.
I've just gotten into wine making. I'm in the middle of making my first batch of a strawberry wine recipe that I got off of the net (middle of my secondary fermentation). In this recipe, it calls to primary ferment for about 7 days, then siphon into a secondary with airlock to ferment for 4-6 weeks, then rack
one more time into a clean secondary container re-attach the air lock and
allow to stand until the wine is completely clear (about 1-2 weeks). Then sweeten if wanted and bottle.
My questions are:
1) For sweetening, the recipe mentions that anytime you add sugar to a finished wine you must then either add a stabilizer such as Potassium Sorbate or filter with a pressurized type filter system using “sterile” filter pads. I've also read here and other places to add sulfites. Which should I do?
2) I've also read about adding Campden tablets during each racking (or every other racking). This recipe does not mention anything about this. I added sodium metabisulfite in the beginning (initial 24hrs of pulp before adding yeast) as per the recipe. So, do I need to add these tablets (or sodium metabisulfite since that's what I have and I believe sod. meta is in Campden) when I rack after secondary fermentation is done?
3) During the secondary fermentation, is it ok to once in a while remove the airlock to grab a sample (to check SG or to taste - every time I go in the basement and see it there, I want to taste it even though it's only been a week in the secondary)? Or would I just be asking for trouble (oxidation, etc)?
Thanks for your help,
ap_winer
PS. this forum is great! A lot of helpfull info.
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